World Born

James, a 17-year-old teen with caramel brown hair and hazel eyes, was walking back to the orphanage he grew up in all his life from school. He didn’t really want to go back, but luckily his birthday was tomorrow, so he didn’t have to wait much longer. Soon he’ll be out on his own.

He had everything planned out. He found an apartment on the other side of town and a job close by to that apartment. It wasn’t the greatest job he had, but it was a start to a better life, if not a boring one.

James sighed in dismay. That was a problem he always had for as long as he could remember. Life was always boring, and he wished that for once something interesting would happen. He didn’t care about that saying: be careful what you wish for. He prayed that something crazy would happen just to have a little fun in his life. Not even when he nearly got hit by that car at age ten was enough to get his blood pumping.

The orphanage was in sight now. James stopped moving, staring blankly at the old, rotting, discolored building. The people there weren’t bad, but they all acted the same. Kind, friendly, stern when a child misbehaves. He hadn’t seen an ounce of their true personality surface. It was like they didn’t have one.

James looked up at the gray, cloudy sky. He could smell the moisture in the air and feel it on his skin. It was going to rain soon, he knew, but the rain and weather was his favorite thing about this world. It was unpredictable, gentle, powerful, and sometimes deadly. No one could really know for sure, and that was what made the weather so interesting. Rain was his favorite. It could be cold, like little ice needles falling from the sky, or lukewarm from the summer sun. Sometimes hail would fall with it, and they could come in all different shapes and sizes. Alas, he was never allowed to be out when a hail storm was going on.

James felt a small drop hit his pinkish face. It made a small smile appear on his lips in joy. He closed his hazel eyes as more raindrops fell. They were cold, but not icy. It soothed him, his body relaxing to its gentle, cool touch. He wished he could stay out in the rain forever without having to worry about catching a cold.

Out of nowhere, James felt the cemented sidewalk vanished from below his black boot-covered feet. He snapped his head down and saw a black, void-like hole where the ground once was. He didn’t have time to think or catch himself as he fell through the void like he was being sucked into a vacuum. The last thing he saw before passing out was the hole closing and his world being consumed by darkness.

()()()

“..lo...ello...Hello! Wake up!” James’ eyes snapped open when someone screamed into his ear. He flew up into a sitting position and looked around to find the source of the voice, but didn’t see anyone. “I’m down here!” he heard the voice again. He blinked and looked down. On his knee was a tiny, white mouse with purple eyes.

James began to wonder when mice had purple eyes, but that was not an important question right now. He needed to find out who spoke, and he highly doubted that it was the small creature on his jean-cover knee.

“You were just lying here,” the voice said again, and this time James saw who spoke. “I was starting to worry when you wouldn’t wake up, so I decided to see if you were okay. You seem to be fine, except for that stupid look on your face. What, never seen a talking mouse before?”

Yup, the mouse was talking. He must still be sleeping. Maybe he was hit by lightning or something. It was raining when he passed out, after all. But he was in a city when he fainted…

James looked around at his surroundings again and noticed he was in an open field. There were huge rocks not far to his right, and much farther in the distance was a mountain range. 

“Where am I…?” he asked. “This is not where I was and last I checked, mice don’t talk.” James had looked back down at the white mouse while he was finishing his sentence.

“You don’t know? Have you been living under a rock or something? No, you look too clean...Maybe you’re from Glaychus. Those people never leave their town to know what is going on out in the world.”

“Gl-ae-ch-us? What…? Look, mouse. I never heard of a place like that. I’m from New York City. It would be next to impossible for me to not know what was going on around the world,” James said in annoyance.

“New York?” asked the mouse. “There is no such city here. Unless you’re trying to convince me you're from Earth.”

“That’s exactly where I’m from,” said James with a raised eyebrow. “Are you telling me that I’m not on Earth anymore? Where am I then?”

The mouse stared wide-eyed at him like it couldn’t believe what it just heard. “You are from Earth? But that is not possible! Earth is just a myth!” it squeaked in shock. “You have to be pulling my tail, right? You can’t be from there.”

“Well, I am, and I would maybe like to go back?” James wasn’t sure if what was happening was real or not, but if it was, then maybe this could be his chance at a more interesting life. The world around him was so new, so unpredictable, with apparently talking animals - or it could just be the mice that could speak, but right now he doesn’t know. What are the dangers here? What are all the creatures? Clearly, there were humans in this world since the mouse didn’t question what he was.

“If, and this is a big IF, you’re from Earth, why would you want to go back? From the stories I heard about it, it’s very boring. Nothing talks and there are no dragons to play with!”

James' eyes felt like they were about to fall out of his head. “Play with...You play with dragons?” he asked in shock.

“Well yeah, it’s fun messing with them. They never know I’m there tickling their giant feet until they go crazy scratching it. They get so mad when they find out it was just me. I wouldn’t recommend doing it if I were you, however. They hate humans. Can’t blame them. All the humans do is try to kill them for something stupid like steal the shiny rocks the dragons have. They are pretty, but not worth your life if you ask me.”

‘It, he, must be talking about gems,’ thought James. “Okay, well, do you know where I can go to find my way back home?” ‘I need to make sure I’m not dreaming this up.’

The mouse looked thoughtful for a few seconds before he answered, “There is someone who might know. They’re not human, though, if you have a problem with it…” James could tell by the tone in the mouse’s voice that humans don’t like to get along with other creatures in this world. Kind of like the humans from Earth, except these guys sounded worse.

“I have no problems with it. I like animals more than people anyway.” After all, to James, animals were more interesting. Sure they do pretty much the same thing as the others, but they do have character. The humans were almost all the same, even in this world, where it sounded like a cliche fantasy novel. He had a feeling he wouldn’t get along with the people in this world.

“Well then, follow me. I’ll lead you to that bag of feathers,” said the mouse, who hopped off James’ knee and began to walk.

“Bag of feathers? Is it a type of bird?” asked James as he stood to follow.

“You’ll see. Oh, yeah, I almost forgot.” The mouse turned around and climbed onto James’ shoulder. “My name is Zelph. What is yours?”

“James Kleen.” The mouse’s eyes widened for a split second in surprise, but it happened so fast that James wasn’t sure if he really saw it.

“Nice to meet you, James,” he said with a smile. “Now you see those mountains over there?” James nodded his head. “Just cross them to the other side, and we should be in the village where the bag of feathers is.”

Dread spread throughout James’ body. “You want me to hike the mountain?”

“Yes. Don’t worry, it’s not too bad. You only have to worry about the cats.”

“What about food and water? I don’t have anything on me that would allow me to make such a journey without potentially dying.”

“There is plenty of food and water on the mountain. Just follow my lead and you’ll get to the other side in one piece. Unless the cats get you.”

“What’s up with the cats?” asked James as he began making his way to the mountain range.

“They’re big and want to eat you,” that’s all Zelph said, and James knew he wasn’t going to get more of an explanation. “Now let’s cross that mountain!” James sighed in dismay.

()()()

“How much longer until we get there?” James demanded as he climbed up some sharp rocks that were bigger than him. He had been climbing the mountain for the past three days and he felt it in his hands and feet. Luckily he was wearing boots, but they were starting to wear out. They weren’t new; he had them for five years before he found himself in this world.

“We’re almost there. We’re on the other side of the mountain now. Just a bit farther and we should be in the village at the base of this mountain,” said Zelph.

“How long will that take?”

“I’d say another day.” James sighed but kept going. “I should warn you. The cats are close by.”

“I’m sure we’ll be fine. They can’t be any bigger than a house cat, right?”

Zelph titled his head. “What’s a house cat?”

James held his hands up to demonstrate the size of a house cat. “They are about this long and this tall. They would be considered big to you.”

“James...that’s tiny to what I’m warning you of.”

James had a feeling that the cats were one of the bigger ones, like a mountain lion, but he hoped that wasn’t the case. Before he could say anything about it though, Zelph squealed in terror and hid inside James’ shirt. The young man looked up to see what it was that scared Zelph. His eyes landed on a cat that stood on two legs, had four arms, and held an axe in each of its hands. This thing stood taller than James, which was scary enough, but those axes were what really freaked him out. Those things could cut him in two no problem, and he had no weapons to defend himself with.

“Oh...boy…” James said breathlessly. The beast roared and James sprinted along a dangerous path down in the direction he was going.

“Turn right, there is a river that way!” Zelph shouted desperately.

‘So these things hate water just like any cat. That’s a relief,’ thought James as he followed Zelph’s orders.

He heard the cat behind him and closing in fast. The river was in sight now. The sun’s rays gleaming over the surface. James made a jump for it and splashed into the cold water. He heard a hiss from behind and turned to see the cat back away from the water as if in pain, some of the water dripping off of it. It glared at him with hatred before running off back toward the rocks.

James sighed in relief. “It’s safe to come out now,” he told Zelph, who slowly came out from under his wet shirt. His purple eyes scanned the area before meeting James’ eyes.

“Alright, now we just have to follow this river. It will lead us the rest of the way. I’d stay in the water if I were you,” Zelph said.

“Good idea.” James turned to his right, walking further down the mountain.

()()()

James continued walking through the river the next morning. His legs were cold, and he was sure that he might catch a cold if he did not find the village soon.

“There it is!” Zelph’s voice shouted, making James look down at his fuzzy friend to see where he was pointing. He looked up again and saw a small village a few yards away, almost completely hidden behind some trees.

James thanked whatever god was out there before running toward the village. He slowed down once he could see the inhabitants, and calmly walked past the first house. James noticed that none of the people here were human, but they looked like they were in some way. Their eyes showed more intelligence than a human, and they walk on two legs. That was where the similarities ended, however.

The people of this village had feathers like birds, but the faces of a snake. They all came in different sizes and colors, except for the children. They were all white fluff and scales. James guessed that the young ones got their color once they were older.

A bird/snake with red, gray, and blue feathers came up to him and asked what he was doing there. James told him that he heard that someone from the village could help him return to his world. That was when Zelph announced himself. It proved that these creatures have met Zelph before and that he was possibly friends with them.

The feathery snake creature led James to a teepee that was closest to the mountain that he had just got off. They all go inside to see a small, but strong, bird/snake creature with fiery feathers and long fangs.

“Zelph, why have you brought a human with you?” asked the small creature curiously.

“Hey you beg of feathers!” called out Zelph happily. “This human is James Kleen, and he says he’s from Earth.”

The creature perked up when James’ last name had been said, but he didn't bring it up, yet. “Earth, you say…? I’m guessing you wish to go back?”

James nodded, “Yes. I did have a friend there after all.”

“Only a friend? What about family?”

James didn’t meet the creature's eyes. “I never had one.”

“Yet you have a last name. Was it the name you gave yourself or was it something that the people who cared for you called you?”

James wondered why there were questions about his last name. “That’s what the caretakers called me,” he replied.

“Have you ever tried to find those that share your last name?”

“What does it matter?” James was having enough of these questions. They weren’t important, right?

“You haven’t found anything, did you, young James.” It was more of a statement than a question; one that he could not deny. “The reason you couldn’t find anyone was because that name comes from this world. Almost 18 years ago, a child vanished into thin air. No one knew what happened to him except for his late parents. You wouldn’t happen to be almost 18 right now, would you?” the creature asked with a raised feathered brow.

James processed what he was being told and couldn’t believe it. “Are you saying that this world is where I was born?” he asked disbelievingly. The creature nodded his head. “That’s impossible!”

“Just like how world traveling is impossible?” asked the creature with a knowing smirk.

“Yes!” shouted James.

“Yet, it is very possible.” No one spoke for a few moments, but then the creature said, “Why don’t you have some tea? I’m Ince, by the way. Ince of the Fleather Tribe.” He waited until James sat down before speaking again. “I’m sorry to say that there is no going back to Earth. You were never meant to be there, and the only known spell to get there only lasts for a few years. Your parents used that spell to save you from another group of humans, knowing it was temporary. So they used that time to destroy them, that way when you came back it would be to a safer world. But they passed away during the fight.”

“How do I know you aren’t pulling my leg?” asked James suspiciously.

Ince held up an old, folded piece of paper. “This should tell you everything you need to know.” James took it and read what the letter said. It was to him from those who claimed to be his birth parents. It spoke of how a tyrant was trying to take over the world, but he would have needed to get past them first. They knew James would be in danger so they sent him away so they could deal with the tyrant while he stayed safe. The letter had his name and all in it, even a picture of him and his blanket he still had back in the orphanage.

James placed the letter down with a long exhale. He didn’t know what to think except to believe Ince’s words. After a few moments of silence, he requested, “Where was their home?”